The Regional Infection Control Officer (RICO) Program
The Regional Infection Control Officer (RICO) Program
The Regional Infection Control Officer (RICO) Program
The Regional Infection Control Officer (RICO) Program is a co-operative approach to addressing the essential infection control and prevention needs of EMS agencies in the Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council (STRAC) region.
In the 84th session of the Texas Legislature, SB 1574 was passed, placing requirements on EMS agencies to have Designated Infection Control Officers, increase prevention and reporting processes and allow hospitals to provide better information to EMS providers.
The RICO Program provides a mechanism to normalize, centralize and simplify processes for EMS agencies to meet the requirements of SB1574 and provide consistent, quality infection prevention, rapid assistance from qualified Infection Preventionist providers if an exposure occurs while also ensuring regulatory compliance.
STRAC has partnered with San Antonio Fire Department and the Office of the Medical Director, Emergency Health Sciences Department of the UT Health San Antonio to create the RICO program. Dr. David Miramontes, SAFD/EMS Medical Director oversees the RICO program, and RICO manages the day-to-day operations.
24/7 RICO HOTLINE: (210) 355-0804
RICO Member Agencies as of 31-Mar-22
(through December, 2022)
• Atascosa County EMS
• Bandera County EMS
• Bexar County ESD-2
• Bexar County ESD-7
• Bexar County ESD-10
• Bexar County ESD-11
• Boerne FD
• Bulverde Spring Branch EMS
• Comal County ESD-3 (dba Canyon Lake FD/EMS)
• Community EMS
• Converse FD/EMS
• Edwards County EMS
• EMS of Nueces Canyon
• Fredericksburg FD/EMS
• Harper VFD
• Karnes County EMS
• Kendall County EMS
• Kerrville FD
• La Salle County EMS
• Leon Springs VFD
• New Braunfels FD/EMS
• Schertz EMS
• Shavano Park FD
• Utopia EMS
• Uvalde EMS
• Wilson County ESD-2
• Wilson County ESD-4